Browsing by Author "Zidar, Nina"
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- Development of head and neck pathology in EuropePublication . Hellquist, Henrik; Agaimy, Abbas; Stenman, Göran; Franchi, Alessandro; Nadal, Alfons; Skalova, Alena; Leivo, Ilmo; Zidar, Nina; Simpson, Roderick H. W.; Slootweg, Pieter J.; Hernandez-Prera, Juan C.; Ferlito, AlfioThis review gives a brief history of the development of head and neck pathology in Europe from a humble beginning in the 1930s to the explosive activities the last 15 years. During the decades before the introduction of immunohistochemistry in the 1980s, head and neck pathology grew as a subspeciality in many European countries. In the late 1940s, the Institute of Laryngology and Otology with its own pathology laboratory was founded in London, and in 1964 the World Health Organization (WHO) International Reference Centre for the Histological Classification of Salivary Tumours was established at the Bland-Sutton Institute of Pathology, also in London. International collaboration, and very much so in Europe, led to the publication of the first WHO Classification of Salivary Gland Tumours in 1972. In the 1960s, a salivary gland register was organised in Hamburg and in Cologne the microlaryngoscopy was invented enabling microscopic endoscopic examination and rather shortly afterwards a carbon dioxide laser attached to the microscope became established and laryngeal lesions could be treated by laser vaporisation. During the last three decades, the use of immunohistochemistry supplemented with cytogenetic and refined molecular techniques has greatly facilitated the pathological diagnostics of head and neck lesions and has had a huge impact on research. Collaboration between different European centres has drastically increased partly due to establishment of scientific societies such as the Head and Neck Working Group (HNWG) within the European Society of Pathology and the International Head and Neck Scientific Group (IHNSG). A very large number of European pathologists have contributed to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th WHO books, and are involved in the upcoming 5th edition. Accredited educational meetings and courses are nowadays regularly arranged in Europe. Numerous textbooks on head and neck pathology have been written and edited by European pathologists. The increased collaboration has created larger series of tumours for research and new entities, mainly defined by their genetic abnormalities, are continuously emerging from Europe, particularly regarding salivary gland neoplasms and "undifferentiated" sinonasal tumours. These findings have led to a better and more precise classification and open the possibilities for new treatment strategies.
- Massive parallel sequencing of head and neck conventional squamous cell carcinomas: A comprehensive reviewPublication . Nadal, Alfons; Cardesa, Antonio; Agaimy, Abbas; Almangush, Alhadi; Franchi, Alessandro; Hellquist, Henrik; Leivo, Ilmo; Zidar, Nina; Ferlito, AlfioHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and is a cause of signifcant mortality and morbidity. The epidemiology of this cancer varies worldwide due to either genetic diferences in populations or diferences in carcinogen exposure. The application of massive parallel sequencing-based techniques in HNSCC should provide a helpful understanding of the genetic alterations that eventually lead to HNSCC development and progression, and ideally, could be used for personalized therapy. In this review, the reader will fnd an overview of the mutational profle of conventional HNSCC according to published results on massive parallel sequencing data that confrm the pivotal role of TP53 and the frequent involvement of CDKN2A and PIK3CA. The reader will also fnd a more detailed description of the genes, such as NOTCH1 and FBXW7, that were not identifed in HNSCCs before the development of these techniques, the diferences that can be site-specifc, such as the diferent mutational signatures that indicate specifc carcinogens for various subsites of the head and neck, and fnally, the actionability of these fndings that should allow more personalized therapy for patients.
- Metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma accounts for nearly all squamous cell carcinomas of the parotid glandPublication . Bradley, Patrick J.; Stenman, Göran; Thompson, Lester D. R.; Skálová, Alena; Simpson, Roderick H. W.; Slootweg, Pieter J.; Franchi, Alessandro; Zidar, Nina; Nadal, Alfons; Hellquist, Henrik; Williams, Michelle D.; Leivo, Ilmo; Agaimy, Abbas; Ferlito, AlfioPrimary squamous cell carcinoma of the parotid gland (pSCCP) has long been recognized as a separate entity and is included in the WHO classifications of salivary gland tumors. However, it is widely accepted among head and neck pathologists that pSCCP is exceptionally rare. Yet, there are many publications describing series of pSCCP and data from SEER and other cancer register databases indicate erroneously an increasing incidence of pSCCP. Importantly, pSCCP and metastatic (secondary) squamous cell carcinoma to the parotid gland (mSCCP) have nearly identical histological features, and the diagnosis of pSCCP should only be made after the exclusion of mSCCP. Moreover, all of the histological diagnostic criteria proposed to be in favor of pSCCP (such as, for example, dysplasia of ductal epithelium) can be encountered in unequivocal mSCCP, thereby representing secondary growth along preexistent ducts. Squamous cell differentiation has also been reported in rare genetically defined primary parotid carcinomas, either as unequivocal histological squamous features (e.g., NUT carcinoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma), by immunohistochemistry (e.g., in NUT carcinoma, adamantinoma-like Ewing sarcoma, basal-type salivary duct carcinoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma), or a combination of both. Another major issue in this context is that the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding system does not distinguish between primary or metastatic disease, resulting in a large number of patients with mSCCP being misclassified as pSCCP. Immunohistochemistry and new molecular biomarkers have significantly improved the accuracy of the diagnosis of many salivary gland neoplasms, but until recently there were no biomarkers that can accurately distinguish between mSCCP and pSCCP. However, recent genomic profiling studies have unequivocally demonstrated that almost all SCCP analyzed to date have an ultraviolet light (UV)-induced mutational signature typical of mSCCP of skin origin. Thus, mutational signature analysis can be a very useful tool in determining the cutaneous origin of these tumors. Additional molecular studies may shed new light on this old diagnostic and clinical problem. This review presents a critical view of head and neck experts on this topic.
- Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in oropharyngeal squamous cell Carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysisPublication . Rodrigo, Juan P.; Sánchez-Canteli, Mario; Triantafyllou, Asterios; de Bree, Remco; Mäkitie, Antti A.; Franchi, Alessandro; Hellquist, Henrik; Saba, Nabil F.; Stenman, Göran; Takes, Robert P.; Valero, Cristina; Zidar, Nina; Ferlito, AlfioNeutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been associated with survival in various cancers, including head and neck cancer. However, there is limited information on its role in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCC) according to HPV status. This prompted the present metaanalysis. Studies were selected when the prognostic value of NLR prior to treatment was evaluated in OPSCC patients, the cutoff value of NLR was available, and the prognostic value of NLR was evaluated by time-to-event survival analysis. A total of 14 out of 492 articles, including 7647 patients, were analyzed. The results showed a worse prognosis for the patients with a high NLR: The combined hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival (OS) in patients with an elevated NLR was 1.56 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21–2.02; p = 0.0006), for disease-free survival was 1.52 (95% CI 1.34–1.73; p < 0.00001), and for recurrence-free survival was 1.86 (95% CI 1.50–2.30; p < 0.00001). This worse prognosis ofhigh NLR was exclusive of HPV-positive patients: HR for OS in the HPV-positive subgroup was 4.05 (95% CI 1.90–8.62 (p = 0.0003), and in the HPV-negative subgroup 0.92 (95% CI 0.47–1.80; p = 0.82). The prognosis of NLR was not influenced by treatment: The HR for OS for patients treated with radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy (RT/CRT) was 1.48 (95% CI 1.09–2.01; p = 0.01), and for patients treated with surgery (±RT/CRT) was 1.72 (95% CI 1.08–2.72; p = 0.02). In conclusion, an elevated NLR relates to worse outcomes in patients with HPV-positive OPSCC.